Three Steps from Eden
by The Genius Mage
Summary: Love should be a good thing. Telling someone you love them should put you straight into paradise if they feel the same. Unfortunately, those three words were also the hardest to say. Short, YuuxHaruka one-shot.


~*_Three Steps from Eden_*~

_The words were frustratingly difficult to say._

~*X*~

_I love you._

Three very simple words. With one syllable each. A very old statement, a confession of affection. Shouldn't be that hard to spit out.

But dear God, it _was_.

It was a few years after all of that Noein madness, and Yuu was slumped, flat on his back, on his bed with his cell-phone pressed to one ear. His expression was annoyed, though not at the person on the other end so much as himself.

"_Are you really sure about this, man?" _Isami asked, his voice incredulous as always.

Yuu shrugged, fingering the buttons on his shirt with a scowl. "I think so," he began haltingly. "I…I like it when she smiles, and when laughs…" His gaze drifted over to his window, and he absently watched the sparkle of sunlight off the nearby ocean. "When she's unhappy or scared, I feel really bad…like I want to protect her."

A pause, in which he heard the crinkle of a manga page turning. _"Whoa. You _are_ serious."_

His face heated up a little. "W-We've been friends since we were kids," he objected defensively.

"_But there's 'like', then there's 'like-like'. Are you just feeling what best friends do or…?"_

Yuu had to admit, he was feeling grateful to Isami for at least taking this conversation seriously. Usually he was _far_ from it. He continued to survey the railway cars moving up and down the mountain with a thoughtful frown. "When she's not here…I feel frightened, like she's a magnet for danger or something."

"_Dude, she kinda is."_

Sitting up, he sighed heavily, causing the phone to receive a burst of static. "Exactly." He toyed with the idea of telling his friend about his strange ability to _know_ when Haruka needed him, but decided not to. The last thing he needed was Isami telling Miho and the next thing he knew; he'd be running to escape some kind of ritual from the pink-hair extremist.

"_If you're really sure about this Yuu, why don't you just tell her?"_

"That's the problem. I'm on summer break right now; this might be my last chance before school _really_ gets started. You know how the studying goes."

"_That's what you get for going to Tokyo," _Isami noted with no small amount of glee.

Yuu's eyes rolled so fast that the world became a multicolored blur. "That's not the point."

"_If you can't tell her, why don't you write it?"_

He listened to the sound of a soccer ball bouncing on the other end for a few heartbeats, frowning. "That doesn't seem right," he admitted. "I don't want to do it that way."

"_You're _impossible_, man!" _Isami complained, sounding exasperated.

"Yeah…" Irritated with himself, Yuu clapped a hand to his face and groaned. Not for the first—or last—time, he wished he was as brave as Karasu. _But…he _is_ me…_

"_Do what the movies do,"_ suggested his friend several seconds later. _"Take her to a place important to both of you, talk casually, and then pop the question."_

Scoffing, Yuu narrowed his eyes, though Isami wouldn't know. "'Pop the question'? I'm not asking to marry her."

"_But you _are_ building up to asking her out, right?"_

Growing aggravated, though most of it wasn't aimed towards Isami, he snapped back, "I could say the same for you and Ai."

Cue a storm of spluttering. "I-you-Yuu-uh-no-what-_huh_? It's n-n-n-n-not l-l-like th-th-that, man!"

He smirked. "Of course it isn't. I'll talk to you later, Isami." Hanging up without waiting for a reply, Yuu dropped his phone beside him and rumpled his hair again.

_It shouldn't be this hard…Karasu was right, I _do_ need a backbone._

Fighting Shangri-La was almost appealing compared to what he _needed_ to do, though. Which was sad in and of itself. Following several more minutes of debate, Yuu decided to go ahead and go with Isami's aforementioned plan. Picking up his cell-phone once more, he selected the first name on his contact list and sought to ignore the butterflies rising traitorously in his stomach.

"_Hello?" _A familiar, cheery voice chimed.

"Haruka?"

"_Yuu! Where are you?"_

"I'm…at home."

"_Really? I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow!" _She sounded pleased. _"Do you want me to come over?"_

"Mom wants me to do a few things first…but tomorrow morning, around ten…" He shut his eyes and forced the next words out. "Come to the old swing-set. You know the one, right?"

She hummed pensively. _"You mean the one we played on, when we were little?"_

"Yeah."

"_Okay. How come?"_

"I've…got something to tell you."

"_Sure!"_

And just like that, he had scheduled what he thought might be the most important occasion of his young, sixteen year old life.

~*X*~

Yuu was glad he had arrived first. It offered him some time to think.

He sat in one of the swings; he had trouble imagining the pair of them being small enough to effectively use the things. He knew why it was a favorite haunt of theirs, since it held a lot of cherished childhood memories, but still…the corniness of the situation almost made him grimace.

The sun was already at a decent point in the sky by now, and it illuminated Hakodate's seaside scenery with a breathtaking beauty. He watched the ocean and pretended not to notice Haruka as she jogged up to stand beside him.

He knew she was smiling without even looking.

"Aw, is something wrong?" She inquired kindly, hands clasped behind her back.

He glanced up at her and reflected over one simple fact. Despite the years that had gone by, she looked almost exactly the same. Just…taller. The same hairstyle, the same grin, the same dark pink eyes.

_What peculiar eyes…_

Best of all, the _Dragon Torque_'s mark had vanished off of her pale throat.

"Nah." He paused a moment to collect his bearings. Conversation first, confession later. His train of thought was interrupted by Haruka as she hugged him tightly for a few seconds, and he felt himself blushing. "H-Haruka," he complained, shoving her back. "I haven't been gone _that_ long."

Unperturbed, she just smiled and rocked on her heels. "How's Tokyo?"

"Fine. I guess." He lifted one shoulder and let it fall.

Her voice became quieter. "I really miss you, Yuu."

He feigned surprise. "I call you almost every day!"

"Aw, but that's not the same." She sat on the swing beside him, brushing her dark locks behind her ears with absent movements. "So…you said you had something to tell me?"

At her expectant stare, he cringed. "Yeah…I…" Averting his gaze, he shrugged helplessly. For the first time in a _long_ while, he thought of something that Karasu had said.

"_You can't do it—you _can't_."_

The taunting words of his future self had made him feel infuriated and weak, because they had been the truth at the time. He had been helpless. But in this situation, it was his _own_ reluctance making him weak, making him feeble. There was nothing to worry about really. It was _Haruka_ after all, and she lacked a mean bone in her entire body.

Still…everyone feared rejection. Everyone.

"Yuu?" She tilted her head to the side. "What's the matter?"

"Ah…um…" He sighed, and he bit back a pained yelp as he felt her pluck something off of his head. "What are you _doing_?" He snarled crossly, though not with a whole lot of venom.

She was twirling something between her fingers. "Wow, is it starting already?"

"_What_?"

At that moment, his eyes locked onto what she was holding.

A lone gray hair.

He gawked at it in shock, running his hand through his brown tresses. "I'm _graying_?" His disbelieving tone earned a bout of giggles from Haruka, and despite everything, her happiness made him warm from the tips of his ears down to his toes.

_That _has_ to be evidence enough that I love her._

"I didn't think Karasu had gotten gray hair from _normal_ means." Her pink gaze carried a mischievous tint to them, as did her grin. "You'll have to be sure to grow your hair out a little!"

Yuu had never been a particularly good-tempered person, and he snapped harsher than he meant to, "I'm not Karasu, Haruka."

She brought her hand to her mouth, looking a little sheepish, as if words were on the tip of her tongue that she longed to say.

The anger faded as fast as it had come, and he groaned. "Wait…I guess I am, aren't I?"

"Yes…and no." She let it drop after that, and he thought he heard a touch of sadness in her voice as she looked away.

It was ridiculous, to feel jealous over his _future self_. It was like some kind of narcissism. However, it happened anyway, and he let the motion pass by unchallenged. "But you're doing fine, right? School's okay?"

"Yeah…" She brightened at that moment. "Ai is doing _so well_ on the soccer team! You should see her play Yuu, it's incredible!"

He laughed a little. "If she has a game during my break, I'll watch."

Haruka hummed at that, content, before finding a new subject. "You know, I've been thinking…"

"Really?" He remarked wryly, earning a playful pout from his friend.

"About…going to Tokyo, with my dad for a while. Not forever, because I don't want to leave Mom alone, but…"

"Why would you do that?"

Rocking the swing back and forth slightly, she murmured, "I want to be closer to you."

"Oh." He blinked several times, shaking his head after a few moments. "You don't have to do that. What about everyone else here?"

"Ai, Miho, and Isami will have each other. This way, you won't have to be there all alone."

He was touched, but also skeptical. "It's hard work," he warned.

She grinned widely at him. "But you'll be there to help me, right?"

Yuu shook his head. "I still don't know…"

"Well, it's not your choice to make," she pointed out.

"Hmph." It wasn't that he didn't want her there, but he had a weird feeling that he was going to end up distracted if they were in the same classes together. Right now, for instance, he found the way her black hair stirred in the wind particularly interesting.

"Anyway," she stated breezily, in a sing-song fashion. "Didn't you have something to tell me?"

"Huh? Right. Ah…" Yuu rubbed the back of his head. "So, we've been friends for a while, haven't we?"

"Since we were little," she chimed cheerily.

"Haruka…you mean a lot to me, and…" He could sense her curious stare on him, and he almost cracked under the pressure of it. She had such an innocent, sweet way of thinking…he wondered if she could even guess what he was trying to build up to.

Of course—(and here he mentally berated himself)—he trailed off and couldn't form the rest of the sentence.

_I'm still weak. After all this time. I'm still _weak_._

Haruka started uncertainly, "You mean a lot to me too, Yuu. What's wrong?"

_Damn it,_ he growled mentally. _Get a hold of yourself. Three simple words, that's all. Everything else after that you have no control over, but saying these words and surviving what comes after will prove I'm not weak._

She put a hand on his shoulder, concern emanating from her in waves. "Yuu…?"

The words burst from him as if they were desperate to flee the confines of his mind. "I think I love you, okay?" Strangely, he said it in an almost _angry_ fashion, but immediately afterwards he deflated and turned his head away, blushing furiously.

Silence. Haruka even withdrew her hand.

"Yuu…"

"Yeah…that's what I wanted to tell you. Stupid, huh?" And suddenly she had her arms flung around him and she was hugging him furiously, much to his embarrassment. The strands of her hair brushed his cheek and he barely succeeded in keeping his balance, planting his feet so they didn't fall over.

(_That_ would have been mortifying. What if someone saw?)

"Oh, Yuu…" Her soft voice resonated in his ears. "Do you really mean that?"

Slowly, hesitantly, he returned the hug. "Y-Yeah." They were both red in the face but he had a feeling that he was a lot worse than her.

_Noein. Karasu. They both cared for Haruka too, and neither of them could keep her safe. Am I just putting her in danger?_

From the two lives he _could_ have that _he_ had seen, Yuu didn't like his chances. However, with Haruka pressed warmly against him with that _smile_ on her face that he loved, he decided to protect her…or die trying.

If Karasu's single-minded determination to guard Haruka didn't make sense before, it sure did now.

Eventually, she pulled back and gave him one of her gentlest, most vivid smiles. It made the butterflies in his stomach explode into a veritable _frenzy_, and he smiled back, his usually dark eyes brightening.

Haruka didn't even have to say it—Yuu knew that she loved him too.

~*X*~

_Author's Note: Right. Yeah. I'm aware it ended abruptly but I mainly wrote this up because the Noein section both needs more of this pairing, and more stories in general. I hope you don't mind this random crap._

_Reviews, as always, are appreciated._


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